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A
I almost laughed. “You’re right. That’s his issue, though, not yours. Here’s your issue-are you going to accept things the way they are, or are you exiting his life? See, I’m not plugging your ticker now because Bones really does care for you. Poor bastard doesn’t have any sense when it comes to women, does he? If you can handle being around him in a platonic way, I’ll deal with not slicing up your heart even though I really, really want to. What do you say? Do we have a deal?”
Suddenly her eyes widened in alarm. “Do get off, he’s almost here! Faith, he’ll be so cross with me!”
In wonder I blinked down at her. Here I sat with a knife in her chest, and she was more worried about a berating from Bones? Her priorities were way out of whack.
“Deal?” I persisted.
She shot me an a
I rolled my eyes and carefully took the knife from her chest. She sprang up at once, but not in hostility. On the contrary, she became a blur of cleaning motion, like Martha Stewart on crack cocaine.
The car door slammed a moment later, and then the front door flung open. Bones glared at A
“And that, A
“Very entertaining,” she hastened to agree, turning blameless eyes to him. “Why, Crispin, you’re back early-”
“Save it,” he cut her off. With a raised brow, he went to me, reached inside the back of my pants, and withdrew the bloody knife I’d hastily shoved there. He then prowled over to A
“Unless Pilates has become downright lethal, I’d say the two of you were fighting. Fighting so loudly, in fact, that I could hear you miles away.”
There was simmering menace in his tone. The tension thickened. Behind him, a face peeked in the doorway.
“Rodney!”
I threw my arms around the surprised ghoul, who looked like he hadn’t expected such a warm welcome. Tate, Juan, and Cooper hung back by the car, but I waved them in. Anything to defuse the ticking bomb of a scene I didn’t want to get into. At the same time, another vehicle pulled up in the driveway with an Italian logo on its door.
“Look.” Broad, false smile. “The food’s here! Who’s hungry?”
THIRTY-ONE
ANNETTE POLITELY EXCUSED HERSELF TO change clothes, and I did the same. Rodney picked up the broken fixtures without comment while Bones followed me into the bedroom.
“Not now,” I began before he opened his mouth. “We settled it. The guys are here and so is di
His lips thi
Bones threw his coat on the bed and then gave one last parting comment over his shoulder as he left.
“Best put on something with sleeves; your arms are covered in scratches.”
Di
I engaged Rodney in conversation and tried to ignore those brown eyes burning into my side. Was Bones angry that I’d stabbed A
Was it true? Sure, I knew Bones hadn’t been a monk before me-duh, former gigolo, so I’d expected some promiscuity-but that kind of history staggered me. Yes, I’d known there would be exes. Probably a lot of exes, but I hadn’t expected that the notches on Bones’s belt would have a similar number to the miles on my car’s odometer! Just thinking about it made me want to kill him and crawl into an insecure ball at the same time. When the plates were finally cleared away, I was a mass of conflicted emotions.
“Cards, gentlemen?” A
Bones stood at once. “Not for the two of us. Enjoy your game, A
The four men weren’t fools. Everyone knew there had been a brawl, and it was an easy guess as to what it was about. Hell, Rodney had probably heard it also. He gave a sympathetic glance at A
“That was hardly polite,” I hissed as we went upstairs, Bones shutting the bedroom door behind us. “You may as well leave it open; they can still hear us.”
“Anyone ill-ma
Frankly I was trying to forget, because maggots of doubt were worming inside me. No wonder I’d had no appetite.
“A catfight, no pun intended. A
Bones wasn’t amused. “So that’s it, then? All’s well and no hard feelings?”
I nodded without conviction.
He moved suddenly, just inches away in a blink. When he lowered his head to kiss me, I flinched.
He straightened. “Right. There are two ways I’m going to hear every blasted word A
There was a quarter of a bottle of gin on the nightstand. I sat on the bed and drained it before replying.
“Fine. Here goes. A
“I am going to flog A
He snatched open the door. “Rodney, take them back and leave A
He didn’t bother waiting for a response before slamming it closed again. I heard Rodney’s mumbled acceptance and then the sounds of them leaving.
“Is it true?” I asked. “You’re pissed at her, but is that because she lied to me? Or because she told me the truth?”
His eyes closed for a second. “I’m sorry to be having this conversation under these circumstances, Kitten, but I had no intention of concealing my past from you. The short answer to what A
Many. Again, that wasn’t unexpected considering his age, former profession, and drop-dead gorgeous-literally!-looks. But I needed a little more clarification than the word many.